[Ultrainferno]

Ultra says that up to now, in his experience with the WA2, the rectifier tube rolling had minimal effect on the sound. Changing the power tubes did a lot more.
I do hope however this will be different in my new Integrated Stereo Amp from Glenn, why else would I have gotten this great collection of rectifiers from you, Clayton
 

 

[Silent One]

Drive tubes can have an effect on rectifiers and power tubes... on each other, actually. This has been my experience. And the outcome is dependent on which tube brings what to the table, as they say.

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

Just received the USAF-596 today! Even after 50 minutes of listen I can already find more details and a better spacial disposition in my music. Please notice the happy cow at the back, she is enjoying the show as much as me 

 
That looks better than 

 breakfast! Speaking of cows, musical details and your new '596,' put on some Steely Dan "Black Cow..."

 

[jc9394]

Quote:

So... I've got 5 USAF-596 rectifiers with no 

amp. 2 adapters for said rectifier in the wrong 

colour. And in the spirit of Chess, now analyzing my next move...

 
Guess the simplest thing to do would be to buy a Woo. 

 
 
I'm in the same camp too...  

  Have to put the WA22 in the closet to keep the little fingers keep touching the tubes.

 

[bbophead]

Quote:

Just received the USAF-596 today! Even after 50 minutes of listen I can already find more details and a better spacial disposition in my music. Please notice the happy cow at the back, she is enjoying the show as much as me 

I like this shot.  Nice job.

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

 
 
I'm in the same camp too...  

  Have to put the WA22 in the closet to keep the little fingers keep touching the tubes.

 
Speaking of fingers, do you and your wife have a piano inside the home or did/do either of you play musical instruments?

 

[jc9394]

Quote:

 
Speaking of fingers, do you and your wife have a piano inside the home or did/do either of you play musical instruments?

 
We do have a digital piano at home, we don't play instruments but our daughters are both in piano lessons. 

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

 
We do have a digital piano at home, we don't play instruments but our daughters are both in piano lessons. 

 
A BIG cheers for their parents!

 

[RBNYC2]

Thanks for the info about the tubes for the LCD-2. I'm trying to find a 596 rectifier now. I've already purchased and received the 6GL7 tubes + adapters from Jack. Are there any other tubes you guys would recommend to be used with the WA6-SE/LCD-2 pairing that I can try other than the 596/6GL7? The descriptions I've heard for the 596 sound great. I understand it may be hard to find but even if I do get one, I'm really looking forward to doing some more tube rolling so I'd love to hear about other options.
 
Also--I'm curious what you guys think would be the ideal Woo setup for the LCD-2's. Would a balanced WA22 setup be preferable over a single-ended WA6-SE? Or something else entirely? I'm wondering for the future, in case I decide to get something else to pair with these headphones. 

 

[grokit]

If you have a balanced source you like and can afford the extra $, then I would say yes. The WA22 doesn't require balanced headphone cables to sound its best, but some headphones respond positively to balanced cabling and the LCD2 is one of those.

 

[john57]

Also the WA22 works best with balanced inputs. Some balanced tube amps on the other hand, like the Little Dot VI+ works best with balanced headphones on the outputs but can drive single ended headphones in a pinch since it is a strong OTL PP amp.
 
In addition some balanced DAC's works better single ended. It depends on careful matching of all four parts of the analog circuits. What I am trying to say it takes more careful matching of parts to make a good sounding DAC's on the balanced outputs which is harder using discrete parts.

 

[shipsupt]

I'm still in the camp that drivers will have more of a direct impact on sound than the rectifier.

Your rectifier is doing a pretty simple job in you power supply of taking AC and only allowing current to flow in one direction, like a diode, so you can get DC for use in the amp.

Your divers, on the other hand, are amplifying the audio signal, so they are right in the audio signal path.

Also, there has been more talk about the rectifier as the dominant influence in SQ than driver tubes. So where does that leave amps that don't use tube rectifiers. It would seem an easy fix to take the tube rectifier out of the equation and just use an ss rectifier like so many other great amps like Ultrainferno's Bottlehead Crack and others. What say ye Ultrainferno?

 

[Clayton SF]

Quote:

I'm still in the camp that drivers will have more of a direct impact on sound than the rectifier.
Your rectifier is doing a pretty simple job in you power supply of taking AC and only allowing current to flow in one direction, like a diode, so you can get DC for use in the amp.
Your divers, on the other hand, are amplifying the audio signal, so they are right in the audio signal path.

 
Great explanation, shipsupt. How much more time will you spend in the U.K. before you come home? Have you come across any great hi-fi stores in London?

 

[shipsupt]

A few more years to go! Then back to the Bay Area.

I've managed to find a few used record shops I like, but I've stayed away from many of the high end equipment shops. I did make the recent London meet, it was fantastic! There is a great group of Head-fi'ers over here.

 

[DutchGFX]

Anyone know a pair of bass light tubes, the WA6SE has kinda bloated bass IMHO... Other than that its amazing, but, the bass is kinda muddy and bloated, just slightly
 
This is with Sophia 274b Mesh Plate if it matters.
 
I tried both Sylvania and Raytheon 6DE7 or 6EW7, the stock fit, no adapters.